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MINING IN INDIA: SOME FACTS

India is the world's third-largest coal producer and the third-biggest greenhouse gas emitter. A NITI report says the country depends on coal for about three-fifths of Ayog its energy needs and aims to double its output to 1.5 billion tonnes by 2020.

In 2016, the contribution of mining sector was 2.6 per cent to the GDP of India, says the coal ministry.

India produces as many as 90 minerals which include two fuel or energy minerals, three atomic minerals, 26 metallic and non-metallic minerals and 55 minor minerals, according to official figures.

The top 10 mineral producing states are Rajasthan, Odisha, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Assam and Andhra Pradesh, according to an industry report.

Jharia coalfields in Dhanbad (Jharkhand) is the prime source of high grade coking coal for steel plants in the country, government reports say. The town has fire raging in its belly for over 100 years. Its residents are thus literally sitting on top of an active volcano.

Fifty to 60 million tonnes of coking coal is available under Jharia town alone, according to an estimate.

Mining-induced displacement and resettlement (MIDR) has emerged as a major risk in India. Most of the affected people are the tribals and other indigenous people.Out of the total number of people displaced due to development projects, 47 per cent were tribals, according to a government appointed expert group.

India is the largest consumer of petcoke which produces up to 11 per cent more greenhouse gases than coal, according to the Carnegie–Tsinghua Center for Global Policy.The Supreme Court in a recent order (October, 2017) has banned the use of petroleum coke and furnace oil, dirtier alternatives to coal, in and around New Delhi in a bid to clean the air in one of the world's most polluted cities.